Upon looking at biological systems, a common theme is evident: structure and function are intrinsically intertwined. This connection can be observed across all length scales, whether looking at the height of a tree, which can rise above the canopy of the forest to harvest light, or the molecular structure of a lipid molecule, which drives it to form bilayer structures for compartmentalisation. Inspired by these concepts, chemists have had a great deal of success in mimicking some of the fundamental chemical, mechanical and computational functions of biological components in synthetic systems. As we continue to improve our ability to manipulate biopolymers, both theoretically and physically, we can now engineer proteins and nucleic acids to create functional nanomaterials that can not only imitate, but also interface with, interrogate and, ultimately, influence biological processes. Selected Publications*:Edwardson, T. G. W.; Tetter, S. & Hilvert, D. 'Two-tier supramolecular encapsulation of small molecules in a protein cage' Nat. Commun. 2020 11, 5410 (https://rdcu.be/b9bID)Edwardson, T. G. W.; Mori, T. & Hilvert, D. ‘Rational Engineering of a Designed Protein Cage for siRNA Delivery’ J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018 140, 10439-10442. (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.8b06442)Azuma, Y.‡; Edwardson, T. G. W.‡; Terasaka, N. ‡ & Hilvert. D. ‘Modular Protein Cages for Size-Selective RNA Packaging in Vivo’ J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018 140, 556-569 (‡equal authorship). (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.7b10798)Edwardson, T.G.W.; Lau, K. L.; Bousmail, D. B.; Serpell, C. J. & Sleiman, H. F. ‘Transfer of molecular recognition information from DNA nanostructures to gold nanoparticles’ Nature Chem. 2016 8, 162-170. (https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.2420)Edwardson, T. G. W.; Carneiro, K. M. M.; Serpell, C. J. & Sleiman, H. F. ‘An Efficient and Modular Route to Sequence-Defined Polymers Appended to DNA’ Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 4567-4571. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/anie.201310937)Edwardson, T. G. W.; Carneiro, K. M. M.; McLaughlin, C. K.; Serpell, C. J. & Sleiman, H. F. ‘Site-specific positioning of dendritic alkyl chains on DNA cages enables their geometry-dependent self-assembly’ Nature Chem. 2013, 5, 868-875. (https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.1745)*Unfortunately, many of these are hidden behind the paywall of scientific publishing houses 🤷‍♂️, but I'm always happy to share a private copy.